James Brown

Finished this. On to the Little Willie John book. Just reading the list of people interviewed is making hairs stand up on back of neck.

got this from the library -- great so far!

Probably going to be nitpickers who will say he didn't mention so and so or that Franzen Lethem was more concise, but as far as trying to tell the whole story in a reasonable number of pages and hitting all the right notes it is kind of a model

I'm halfway through it on the Kindle. My favorite part so far is when James Brown is trying to lecture/scold Bootsy Collins, but Bootsy is just rolling on the floor giggling because he's out of his mind on acid. I wonder if he was thinking to himself, "I'm getting too old for this shit"!

Catfish and Bootsy weren't bothered about Brown's fines, and they'd scamper off before he could make them rehearse during time between gigs. It's a testament to their talent that Brown didn't fire them immediately!

I had always heard that that was the incident that got Bootsy fired, but apparently that is not the case.

I thought it was the "walking offstage in the middle of a show because he thought his bass guitar had turned into a snake" that got him fired

eager to read this, obvy

Yeah, exactly. That is what led to the reprimand But he didn't get fired, at the end JB finally said "Get this fool out of here" and that was that.

One of the points he makes is that Bootsy and Catfish were given a longer leash partly, I think, because they were young and didn't have any families to support and so didn't care as much.

Yep. But Bootsy was not fired for a while after the incident. It was something like the band giving him an ultimatum and everyone getting fired. I just read it yesterday and am already hazy. On the train I was reading about his actively campaigning for Nixon. So crazy, but the book gives greater insight into his thinking at the time than some of his closest colleagues at the time were privy to. A great read.

Bootsy and the Cincinnati crew lasted almost exactly a year. They finally quit when they were supposed to play the Copa in New York, either because they didn't like that the gig and therefore the pay was cut in half or because Bootsy didn't want to wear a tie.

One great story is that young Bootsy had been playing a cheap green guitar strung as a bass but right before the first tour JB told him "Son, I love what you're doing with that bass but- You can't come in here with that" and bought him a new instrument.

The Night James Brown Played The Opry.

haha! was hoping there would be a video.

Me too! Or at least audio. Would love to hear Wagoner's band tackle "Brand New Bag."

i kind of love james' forays into the country music songbook -- his "your cheating heart" is killer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPspFzyb_dE

http://moviepilot.com/stories/1097384-james-brown-the-godfather-of-soul-gets-his-own-biopic?stamp=39036&subscribe_to=697742&utm_campaign=james-brown-the-godfather-of-soul-gets-his-own-biopic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=fb-stream-post

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vptGSENcXeI

I'm not wowed by this trailer. I don't feel like he captures James Brown's forceful personality.

It looks like a typical, by-the-numbers biopic, but I'm a total sucker for that kind of thing, and I can't wait to see it.

I don't think the trailer gives enough of a sense of how much Boseman inhabits James (or doesn't); he seems ok based on the clips, but not overwhelming.

I'm really tired of that hazy look that always gets used for films about Respectable Black Folk In The 40s/50s

One thing I think they missed by using Boseman is that James Brown is grizzled and a little bit ugly. He's way too pretty and clean looking.

biopics are uniformly horrible

I heard this recently. First few seconds is basically drum'n'bass. Damn, the drummers he had.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6l5_FxjlaQ

only thing missing from that biopic trailer is the memory of a dead brother haunting him from the past

I would be okay if every copy of every musical biopic ever was erased and replaced with Walk Hard

is that Craig Robinson as St. Clair lol

He's Maceo!

I'm really tired of that hazy look that always gets used for films about Respectable Black Folk In The 40s/50s

― 'arry Goldman (Hurting 2), Wednesday, June 25, 2014 11:58 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea seems hollywood refuses to make films w/ primarily african-american casts that are both 1) in a contemporary setting and 2) marketed not just to black folk

He's Maceo!

haha sorry I couldn't tell what era that particular bit was supposed to be from

I've never understood why "I've Got Money" never makes into the "James Brown invents funk" mythos

That track might be the single rawest thing he did. Not just the supercharged drums, but those ugly blues chords just hanging there.

It is noted as such in "The One" iirc

everyone should read The One, it is a great bio.

^ this.

Love the part where he's on a plane making a shaky emergency landing. An associate next to him is shaking, sweating, praying, crying, and James says to them, "Hey, don't worry; as long as I'm on this plane, it can't crash."

everything post-80s is such a major bummer

James Brown in Frankie Avalaon movie Ski Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_xBT_xavzM

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/movies/james-brown-is-celebrated-in-get-on-up.html?hpw&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpHedThumbWell&module=well-region®ion=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

Nelson George re new James Brown movie, upcoming James Brown doc, and James himself

x-post--That's James in 1965...Awesome

everything post-80s is such a major bummer

"Too Funky in Here" was great though

Search and Destroy: James Brown

If you wanna jump back and forth between most recently updated James Brown threads

Let Robert Christgau come in and do the popcorn.

Wait, curmudgeon is Syd Nathan?

Ha, Christgau thinks so but I am not acknowledging it

Mick Jagger is responsible for a lot of horrible shit but I gotta hand it to him, he really did this HBO JB doc right

+1

That thing is a treasure trove of footage and insights.

yeah I am so so so glad to see something like this where the emphasis is all on actual footage/interviews w the musicians and people involved plus detailed breakdowns of the music itself (as opposed to generic "I remember the first time I heard Sex Machine, I fell out of my chair" reminiscences)

was a little bummed that it basically stopped in 1970, but so many great stories - Melvin pulling a gun on JB, Clyde talking about how he hates Funky Drummer

i didn't even know this was a thing! looking forward to seeing it.

interesting that he helped bankroll both the biopic (which was balls) and a documentary

also, surely mick jagger is responsible for at least as much awesome shit as horrible shit

https://www.aetv.com/shows/james-brown-say-it-loud

I watched first ep last night on my phone through cable provider. Hopefully will watch rest soon. Ads are slightly annoying though.

Yeah they said they're only unlocking ep1, I'll check it out though. Tbh I'm only really interested in watching through the '70s peak.

Some of the live music clips feel a bit short.

I'm sure it will just frustrate me that the full footage presumably exists but is not available :(

And I am a fan of LL Cool J, and I get having he and Chuck D represent for rap, but sometimes he just offers enthusiasm in his interview clips in this more than knowledge. Sometimes this works as a counterpoint to more staid professors who are interviewed, but sometimes it does not.

I wonder if Brown's family who are involved in the making of this, didn't like RJ Smith's book. He is not in the portions of doc I have watched. Alan Leeds and an older white reporter from Georgia whose name I don't recall are interviewed in this a fair amount. Mick Jagger a bit . Christian Mcbride seems to be the current jazz rep in this.

Questlove is in it too

Isn't Questlove one of the producers? I thought I remember him mentioning on his podcast that he & Black Thought were some of the main movers behind this.

Christian McBride makes sense as he's Questlove's school days buddy and a certified JB obsessive.

Executive Producers Mick Jagger and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson iirc.

McBride was actually in Brown's band at one point (or at least backed him at a single concert; I forget the story).

I think it was one concert, he tells the story of being in Brown's orbit here (1:11):

https://app.podscribe.ai/episode/83381179